PricewaterhouseCoopers has introduced a new human capital measurement and benchmarking product to boost the management of human resources.

With this week?s launch of Saratoga Human Resources (HR) and Human Capital Metrics companies can measure human capital in qualitative and quantitative terms, benchmark their organisation?s performance against other competitors and evaluate their own HR performance.

With competition for skilled staff high in Bermuda some companies are enticing staff from other companies with lucrative compensation packages, companies are looking at ways to attract and retain key staff.

?There is an issue of being able to retain key employees because it can be so easy for people to walk down the street to another competitor, so you don?t just want pay people at competitive rates,? Wanda Richardson, manager in the PwC?s HR division said.

?You want to make sure that as you are paying people at those rates you are adding to the bottom line,? she said. ?You want to have the ability to measure your investment within your HR policies and practices along with your overall profitability levels to see if your HR policies are working.?

Ms Richardson said the Saratoga product will enable companies to address turnover rates, how much it costs to hire an employee, whether key people or low performers are leaving, and variable competition packages.

Results from the PwC?s 2005 Bermuda International Business Compensation Survey indicated the increasing use of variable pay plans as companies place more emphasis on pay for performance.

With access to HR performance measures such as cost of a hire, revenue per employee, employee cash compensation and executive stability ratios, chief executives and HR professionals can reference evidence based reporting to assist in talent management and human resource strategies.

?When critical decisions need to be made regarding the human resources of a firm, it is essential for management to be armed with intelligent data,? Alistair McNeish, Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers Human Resources Services said.

?With a 25-year track record in performance benchmarking, we are confident that our tools and methodologies at PwC are incomparable.?